This story has been updated from its original version.
It wasn't polyjuice potion, the magic elixir of the Harry Potter series that allows wizards to morph their appearances into any shape they choose. The look-alikes at Friday night's premiere of the Potter finale, "Deathly Hallows: Part 2," only wore costumes — and the eager faces of true fans who've been waiting for this moment all their lives.
That's the way it looked an hour before the midnight showing of the last Potter flick, at AMC Showplace 12 in Muncie: super-fans celebrating the height — and end — of a movie series that started when they were just kids 10 years ago.
"It's the last big one," said Christina Goggin, a Taylor University freshman dressed as Hedwig the owl. "Go big or go home."
Michael Heavilon and Joe Eskew, graduates of Yorktown High School headed to college in the fall, dressed as the Weasley twins. They dyed their hair red for the night and wore T-shirts with the characters' names across the back.
"A kid in front of us...was like, 'I'm sitting in front of the Weasleys,'" Heavilon said, smiling.
Seating for the midnight premier started around 10 p.m. with students playing card games and some even acting out "Potter Puppet Pals."
The impromptu, charades-like game is inspired by the popular YouTube series of the same name. In the version at the theater Friday night, fans popped up from behind a railing as they played the roles of key Potter characters.
The house was full by the time the previews began at midnight. After several minutes of coming attractions, fans cheered as the screen lit up with a short feature recapping the Potter series, including high points from the previous seven movies, starting with 12-year-old versions of Harry, Ron and Hermione.
The movie immediately takes on a somber tone as Harry faces a stronger, hugely more powerful Voldemort.
Senior business administration major Marty Stricklin and his friends said the Potter saga is to our generation as Star Wars was to young adults in the 1970s.
Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader are like Harry and Voldemort, they decided, and Anakin might be Professor Severus Snape.
Michael Anderson, 21, said a softer side of Snape revealed in the film didn't surprise him.
"[Snape] is a jerk," Anderson said. "He was bitter, but he wasn't evil."
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